Internal-combustion engine.



H. H. SUPLEE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION man MAR. 21. 911.

A TTOHNEKS H. H. SUPLEE.

NTERNAVL CoMBusTloN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2l, |917.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR HENRY H. SUPLEE TORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

HENRY HARRISON SUPLEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

To all whom t may Concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRYk HARRISON SUPLEE, a citizen of the United States. residing in the city, county, and State of New York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly to a means of and method for controlling the temperature, of the operating parts of the engine. My invention is especially concerned with the coolingr of thecvlinder. pist0n, and other parts which are exposed to the intense heat developed by the combustion of the fuel.

It is Well known that unless the excess heat developed by the explosion and combustion of the fuel in the interior of the cylinder 0f an internal lcombustion motor is continuously removed therefrom. the temperature of adjacent parts will lrise so high as to interfere with the operation of the motor.4 not only through carboni7ati0n of the lubricant', but also, directly. throuah overheating and conseouent warping` burning. crackingv and other injury to the material ofthe cylinder. piston. and other parts which may be exposed to such high temperature.

Heretofore. this excess heat has been removed by various well-known means. such as by the use of Water jackets surrounding the cylinders and other parts; or bythe rapid circulation of air about the exterior of the heated parts. this latter method including such extension of the surfaces exposed to the air as will aid in producing the desired effect.

These methods have been found fairly satisfactoryfor such parts as can be effectively reached -by the cooling medium, Whether water orair` but become inadeouate when certain constructive limits of the parts are exceeded, or yvarious modifications in design are introduced. by reason of the f act that the parts exposed to the hifrh temperatures are not then all sufficiently close to the cooled portions to permit the excess heat to be removed as rapidly as it is produced; this Specification of Letters Patent.

results in overheating, with all the accompanyinpr disadvantages. as already set forth.

It is well known that the power of an internal combustion motor is increased by increasing the diameter of its evlinder. this increase giving-an increased volume of combustible mixture to generate the power. and

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed March 21, 1917. SerialNo: 156,238. l

also providimgr a greater area of piston upon which the pressure of the expanding ,Q'ases acts. l

It has been found in practice. however, that the maximum diameter of the piston is dependent upon the limited rate at which the heat can be carried away from the middle portion of the piston mass to the cooled walls of thecylinder, and that when it is attempted to use pistons exceeding this maximum diameter the middle of the piston head becomes overheated and. hence. liable to fracture and other dangers.

My invention overcomes this difficulty by .introducing into the interior of the cylinder.

beneathv and Within the body of the piston. a system of air circulation. which effects an internal cooling?` and. b v carrying.r the heat away directly, causes the cooling of the more central parts ofthe piston. at least. to no longer be dependent upon the conduction of heat through thebody of the piston to its perimeter and thence to the cooled ovli-w`er walls. This method of internal coolnwf :1t o removes much of the heat from the i-'nxer surface of the cylinder itself. and thus relieves the external cooling system. whether by Water or air circulation. from enfer-'ire demands which may be made upon it when the motor is operated continuously' under heavy load.

It has also been fo'und that in the special type of motors known as sleeve-valve motors,

in which the admission and exhaust of the.

gases are controlled hv onel or more slidingy sleeves concentric with the piston. the piston and inner sleeves are, not so readilv cooled as the parts which are in immediate contact with the exteriorlv-cooled parts: this is he- 'c'ause of the relatively low conduetivihy for heat possessed by the film of lubricant hetween the parts as wellv as bv the necessary lack of molecular kcontact which results` between any two masses of metal when a plane of cleavage is established between them. The maintenanceof a continuous circulation of cold air within the interior of the inner sleeve, as well as within the interior of the piston, renders these portions. in a great degree, independent of the cooling circulation on the outside of the engine; and my invention is especially applicable to engines of this type.

My invention will. perhaps, be more perfectly understood by .referring to the accompanying drawings 1n which Figure l represents a cross section of the cylinder and crank case 0f a conventional form o f inter'- nal combustion engine, as arranged according to my invention and for the practice 0f the method thereof; and Fig. 2 represents a similar sectionof an internal combustion engine of the well known sleeve valve type, as itappears with my invention embodied therein. l

Referring to Fig. 1, A is the cylinder of the motor, in which the piston B moves with an axially reciprocating motion, the combustion taking place above the piston B. and the motion being transmitted to the crank shaft by a connecting rod C. all in the usual well known manner. At D is shown an inlet, tube or pipe through which the air is delivered and at E is a similar pipe of somewhat larger diameter. through which the air makes its exit. These two pipes are. firmly attached to the crank case F, and so disposed as to avoid contactwith the piston, crank, connecting rod and 'other moving parts of the motor` andl are bent into the lower part of thel cylinder in such a direction as to point toward the in'teriorof the piston be-r neath its head. In the drawing the piston is shown in its lowermost position` showing that the lengths of the pipes are such that the piston, at the. limit of its stroke. comes down over them without touching or closing the ends of the pipes.

The inlet pipel) is connected with a blower. pressure pump or other source of cold air, (fthis blower or pump being preferably operated b v the engine itself: or` if the engine is used for automobile` aeroplaneI or like service. the source of cold air may be, simply an inlet within the delivery of thel usual aircirculating fan of the engine or of the propeller of the aeroplane. or. the pipe may be fed from the air current producedby the motion of the engine.v `Itisdesirable that a strainer ll'be placed inthe path of the incoming airrgto intercept any particles et' dirt which might otherwise enter the pipe and,`hence. the crank ca ."to the, detriment of the operationo'f 'thefengine The exhaust air pipe E. is preferably connected with an exhaust fan lil. which 'draws t the warm air ont of the cylinder, or the pipe yture control,

may be permitted to discharge freely into amount of heat removed depending upon the volume of air passing over the heated surfaces and the ditference inf temperature maintained between the air inlet and air discharge.

ln order'to avoid the removal of air through exit pipe E before it'has absorbed anadequate amount of heat from the c vlim der and piston surfaces, i. c., in order to avoid fshort circuiting" the air current between the inner ends of the inlet and exit pipe. l preferably carry the yinner eml ot' the inlet pipe nearer the piston head.than the inner end of the exit pipef A Furthermore. since the outgoing air has a higher tenuwrature and hence an increased volume as compared with the incoming air.

l prefer to give the e.\`it pipe acorrespoml ingly larger cross section than the inlet pipe.

Itis also possible, by such -a circulatory system as hasjust been described. to introd-uce warm air into the interior of an engine. when necessary for any reason, such as the practice of aviation at. high altitude` or in the operation of motors in unusually cold climates; so that my invention constitutes a system of and means for internal Atempera- It will be seen that when the piston is at the outward end or lowest limit of its stroke the discharge of cold air is delivered in a stream directly upon the under side of the piston l xad. thus eli'ectively removing the l heat from that portion; andat. all times the cold air is ldirected against. lthis portion of the piston. hitherto mostv difficult. to keep cooledl' The exhaust air pipe is similarly placed. so that the air which has abstracted the llieat from the piston is continuously withdrawn. and it is the maintenance of this positive. and continuous circulation which constitutes the method of cooling of my invention. The same conditions exist for the interior 'of the piston aml for the'interior of the sleeve or sleeves of a sliding sleeve-valve motor as will be seen byexamination of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2 in which parts `corresponding to the parts shown in Fig. l are indicated bythe same reference characters.

Tn this` drawingtheftwo ,sleeves l. J, which are provided with portsadaptcd to register with one another aml with the outlet and inlet ports in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art, are recipcompletely encircle the cylinder. However,

other forms of sleeve valve engines in which the sleeves only partially surround the cylinder, are well known; my4 invention is equally applicable to such other forms with- -jput other changeI from the structure herein shown except such asV Would readily occur to those skilled in the art.

As Will 'be seen from the drawing, the piston and inner sleeve ofv this lattertype of motor is thoroughly cooled by the interior circulation of cold air by my invention; Whereas in the case of external cooling as heretofore, the heat generated inthe inte rior of the motor must pass outv by conduction through the mass of both sleeves as Well as through two films of lubricant,'be fore reaching the inner side of the externally cooled cylinder.

both end at a level much higher than that of the oil in the crank case it is clear that, practising the method and with the apparatus ofmy invention, there is no danger of forcing oil out of the crank case.

"Having described my invention, I claim 1. The improvement in the art of regulating the temperature of internal .combustion engines which comprises continuously and positively removing air from regions adjacent tothe interior of the cylinder and to the piston head and in continuously and positively replacingsaid air by otherair whereby a continuous positive iiow of air over said surfaces is maintained.v

' .2. The improvement in the art of regulating the temperature of internal combustion engines which comprises blowing air conrtinuously directlyupon the interior surface of the piston head and in continuously re* moving said air by suction.

3. Inf an internal combustion engine, an air eX-it pipe fixed t0 the crankcase and passing through the Wall thereof the inner Mid of` the pipe lying within the cylinder 'and adjacent to the piston "head, and exhaus't pump connected totheJ outer -end of the pipe, and means for admitting air to the crank case.

4. In an internal combustion engine, an air exit pipe fixed to the crank case and passing through the wall thereof the inner end of the pipe lying withinthe cylinder and adjacent to thev piston head, an exhaust pump' connected to the outer end Lof the pipe, and an inlet pipe also fixed tothe crank case and passing through the Wall thereof the inner end of said inlet pipe, like Owing t0 the fact that inlet and exit pipe the inner end of the exit pipe, lying Within the cylinder and adjacent to the piston head. In an internal combustion engine, a pair of pipes fixed to the crank case and passing through the wall thereof the inner ends of the two pipes lying within the cylinder and adjacent to the. piston head, ka compression pump connected to the outer end of one pipe and an exhaust pump'connected to the outerend of the other pipe.

6.'In an internal combustion engine, a pair 0f pipes fixed to the crank case and passing through'the wall thereof the inner ends of the two pipes lying within the cylinder and adjacent to the piston head, a compression pump connected yto the outer end of one pipe a'nd an exhaust pump connected to the outer end of the other pipe, the cross section of the last named pipe being greater than that of the first named pipe.

7. The improvement in the art of regulating the temperature of internal combustion engines `ofthe sleeveyalve ,type which comprises continuously and positivelyy removing vair from regions adjacent to the interior of the inner sleeve and to the piston head-and in continuously and positively replacing said air by Other air whereby a continuous positive fiow'of air over said surfaces `is maintained.

8. The improvement in --the art of regulating the temperature of internal combustion engines of the sleeve-valve type which comprises blowing 'air directly'upon interior surfaces of the inner sleevev and upon the piston lhead and in continuously removing said air by suction.

9. In an internal combustion engine of the sleeve-valve type, an air exit pipe fixed to the crank case and passing through the wall thereof. the inner end' of the pipe lying Within the inner sleeve and adjacent to the piston head, an exhaust pump connected to the outer end of the pipe and means for admitting air directly to the interior of the inner sleeve. i

10. In an internal combustion engine of the sleeve valve type. an air exit pipe fixed to the crank case and passing through the Wall thereof, the inner end of the pipe lying within the inner sleeve and adjacent to the piston head, an exhau'stzpump connected to the outer end of thepipe, and an inlet pipe also fixed to the crank case and passing through the wall thereof, the innei1 endv of said inlet-pipe,- like the inner end of the exit pipe, lying within the inner sleeve and adjacent'to the piston head.

11. In an internalV combustion engine of the sleeve-valve type, a pair of pipes fixed to the crank case and passing through the wall thereof, the inner ends 0f the two pipes lying within the inner sleeve nand adjacent .t0 the piston head, a compression pump connected to the outer end ofone pipe and an exhaust pump connected to the outer 5 end of the other pipe.

l12. In an internal `combustion engine of the sleeve-valve type, a pair of pipes xed Ato the crank'case land passing through the wall thereof, the inner `enols of the two pipes 10 lying within the inner sleeve and adjacent rto the piston head, a compression pump connected t0 the outer end of one pipe and an exhaust pump connected'to the outer end .of the other pipe, the cross section of the HENRY HARRISON sUPLEE, 

